Woodpeckers of the World: Picid in Focus: Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus

Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Picid in Focus: Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus

Adult male Pileated Woodpecker D.pileatus. This is the largest picid in North America reaching up to 48cm in length. It is a food specialist that forages mainly on carpenter ants though it also eats wood-boring beetle larva and sometimes even fruit and nuts. Photo: St. Mary's Parish, Louisiana, USA, Bill Benish.

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Background

Woodpeckers, the Picidae, are Piciformes, an order that includes some of the oldest avian lineages. The Piciformes probably originated about 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period and became distinct from their closest relatives some 50 million years ago. Depending upon which taxonomy is followed, and the fact that the status of some species is unclear, around 240-260 woodpecker species probably exist globally. The Picidae includes three subfamilies: Jynginae (wrynecks), Picumninae (piculets) and the Picinae, the “true woodpeckers”. In terms of size, behaviour, distribution and the habitats they use, the Picinae are a fairly diverse group of birds with six distinct tribes. They are widespread and found from sea-level to high-altitudes but absent from the Arctic, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and some other islands. Worldwide woodpeckers are usually, but not exclusively, associated with trees.